Shattered
by promulgate
Summary: AU: Rachel left Finn to focus on her dreams in New York, but as it turns out, she doesn't get into NYADA, her dream school. There is only one person from her high school past who is willing to keep in touch with her, and that is one Quinn Fabray. Rated M to be safe, but so far there is no mature content.
1. Chapter 1: Some dreams just don't happen

Rachel didn't get in. Her dreams as it seems, were shattered ultimately. She went to New York, hoping to pursue what she had wanted to do for years, hoping to be successful on Broadway, hoping that one day, she would be recognized as a true star, but those hopes are nothing but a hazy memory now. She left Finn a few weeks back, he was being an asshole, as her fathers described.

Finn walked up to Rachel in the hallways while she was clearing her locker out. "Rachel, I think we need to talk." Finn closed the locker door slowly as Rachel was finishing up, sliding her pictures of when she sang at Sectionals for the first time inside her skirt pockets. "What's.. what's wrong, Finn?" Rachel said with a confused look on her face. "Rachel, do you remember our plans about going to New York, and me getting some kind of backstage job at a Broadway show?" Finn said, and his lips somehow seemed reluctant to move at a normal pace. "Of course I remember, Finn. It's all I've been thinking about in the past few weeks. I can't wait until we arrive in New York holding hands while our eyes look up at the new world we're going to have to get used to. It's the biggest step our relationship will ta-" Finn abruptly interrupted her using his harsh tone that meant nothing but trouble. "Rachel, I-I, I don't think I want a life like that. I respect your dreams, and I love you and all, but, how about we think about my dreams for a while? If I wanted to move to somewhere like.. L.A. or something.." "L.A.? Los Angeles, Finn? What do you suppose I do there, Finn?" Rachel was shocked by his statement. New York has been her dream since she was a little girl, after all. She wasn't going to let a person, as important as he may be to her, get in her way. "I don't know, Rachel. But I don't want to be left in the dirt while you get to run around in the greens!" Finn said, almost shouted, actually. He didn't want to shout at her, to avoid looking like an abusive boyfriend in the process. Rachel fixed her shirt collar, grasped her duffle bag firmly, and said, "If you really loved me, Finn, you wouldn't ask me to do something like that." She ran away with tears in her eyes, trying not to look back. I just broke up with the guy I have been pining over since freshman year, she thought to herself.

In the end, if she didn't break up with Finn, she would still have someone who loved her. Maybe L.A. wouldn't have been such a bad choice. All she had now was a broken heart, broken dreams, and nothing worthwhile to do. She hasn't told her dads that she didn't get in, a few days after she received her NYADA letter, she told her dads that she was going to make an early departure. It was quite difficult to convince them to let her go alone, but she promised that she would take care of herself and that she would contact them regularly.

It was 4 in the morning, Rachel was at a motel a few blocks away from the Lima train station. She turned on her computer, hoping to find a last minute college plan. Skype started up and she opened it, not expecting anyone to be online, it was extremely early in the morning after all. But one person turned up to be online, and that was Quinn Fabray. The girl who bullied her for the past 4 years. The new freshman Yale student. While she was staring at her name in the list, as if by magic, Quinn sent her a chat message.

"Rachel, are you up? Reply if you didn't forget to turn off your laptop again." She laughed at how well the girl knew her, she did this many times while she was bored at night, and seeing as Rachel was the only person online, she would say hello. Unbeknownst to her, however, Rachel simply left her computer on overnight to complete her cover uploads on YouTube.

"Hello, Quinn. I'm up." Rachel typed as she took a sip of the complimentary water on the bedside table.

"Hey, Rachel. How's it going there in New York? Have you seen your new school yet? I bet the insides of it are elegant. It is quite an elite school, after all." Oh no. What was Rachel to say? That she wasn't able to get in? That her dreams have disappeared? That the Rachel Berry that Quinn Fabray once knew is dead?

She reluctantly replied with a lie, "I'm doing great, Quinn. I have yet to visit the campus, though." There was no way that Quinn could see through that, they couldn't see each other anyway. Unless Quinn had some kind of super power, Rachel jokingly thought to herself.

"That's good. I'm sure you'll have an amazing time there. When do your classes start?" Rachel was relieved, Quinn bought her lie. She confidently typed in her reply.

"I sure do hope so. Classes start in a few weeks, I've been doing nothing in the past few days." She knew that her classes start in a few weeks for she researched extensively about NYADA. Research that went to waste a few weeks ago.

"So, you've got nothing to do? How about you come over to New Haven? You still have my metro pass, correct?" Right. Rachel almost forgot about the passes Quinn gave her. Her mind was so filled with Finn and NYADA that she almost blacked out on that. She did remember to pack it in her wallet, along with her Lima to New York train ticket, to make sure that she wouldn't leave it.

"Sure, Quinn. Yes, I still have your pass." It wouldn't hurt to visit an old friend. It would be good for her. She needed an important part of her past right now, she thought.

"That's great. So, I'll see you in a few days, maybe? Just call me or text me if you've arrived, I'll be more than happy to share my dorm with you for a while." Quinn was being awfully kind to her. Was it part of the "start of her future" she was talking about when she announced to the glee club that she got into Yale? Maybe.

"Yeah, sure, Quinn. Listen, I have to go now. I'll just contact you whenever, okay?" Rachel seriously needed some sleep, and if she was serious about meeting up with Quinn in New Haven, she had better start packing soon. She didn't want to stay in the crappy motel she was staying in anyway, the only good things about it were the complimentary water bottles and the carpeted floor.

A few hours after Rachel's quick chat with Quinn, she was already in the train station, ready to go to New York, then to New Haven. She held her train ticket firmly in her left hand, careful to not have it slip away, and her pink suitcase in her right, pulling it while she was about to board on the train. "This is going to be a pretty long day."

* * *

_So, any comments? Was it good? Was it bad? Is it worth continuing? Any suggestions as to what you think should happen? I'd appreciate your input._


	2. Chapter 2: Expected hellos

Quinn fixed up her room and prepared a second bed for the unsure coming of her best friend. She was excited, after all, who wouldn't be? She had been nothing but lonely ever since she set foot in New Haven. Everything was new, she knew no one, and no one knew her. No one was aware of her past, the one filled with her unwanted pregnancy, the stupid things she did just to be at the top of the social pyramid again, her unbelievably insane phase changes, and a near-death experience, so she could basically be anythin she wanted. No one would judge her actions for they knew minimal about the freshman. But she was lost in the area, no one was there to help her anymore, no one could fix her the way that McKinley High did. She brought up enough courage to invite someone to help her, and that certain someone was the girl that she bullied to no end, the girl that she instinctively tried to bring down everyday, the girl who stole her first love, the girl who she was jealous of, even though she wouldn't admit it to anyone. The girl who was now successful, getting into her dream school, being able to pursue her dreams, and having a loving boyfriend by her side. Quinn was still in a state of shock after Rachel accepted her metro pass instead of tossing it in the trash, but it was not the time for panic. It was time to clear everything up, she would be starting a new life, after all.

As she finished preparing the pillows and blankets, she still wondered if she was doing this all for no reason. Rachel hadn't confirmed her arrival, neither had she assured Quinn that she would be arriving. They didn't contact each other since their Skype chat, it had been a couple of hours since that. Only a few more hours until that wait would turn into a whole day of anticipation. "Better safe than sorry, Fabray," she said to herself. She wouldn't want to do things last minute. That would screw things up, and she knew that Rachel Berry wouldn't take that.

A few minutes after Quinn had her dinner, she received a text from Rachel. "Quinn, I just wanted you to know that I'm on my way there. I'll be boarding the train in about an hour. See you soon. x" Rachel was really coming. A day after she suggested she should. Quinn was relieved to receive the text, knowing that cleaning her room didn't go to waste. She could've done something more productive if Rachel wasn't coming, but thank god, she is.

"Alright, see you in a few. I'll pick you up. :-)" Quinn replied to Rachel, went out her room and walked down the stairs. She saw her neighbor, Gabriel, frolicking in the lobby. He was a new Yale student as well. When Quinn moved in, she saw him, and he looked very familiar to her. That was because he hailed from Dalton, and he was a member of the Warblers before. They crossed each other's paths when they visited McKinley to say their goodbyes to Kurt. "Hi, Gabriel!" Quinn said as she passed him. "Hey, Quinn. Where are you off to?" Gabriel said while closing his book to look up at her. "Just off to pick up a friend, I'll see you soon. Maybe I'll even introduce you to her, if you're willing to come over tomorrow for lunch," Quinn replied. "That sounds good. You seem to be in a hurry, so you should go. Bye!" Gabriel re-opened his book as Quinn rushed out the door. She didn't want t be late for Rachel's arrival, that's not what friends do, she said to herself as she neared the dormitory's parking lot.

She got into her buggy, checked if she had enough gas, luckily, she did. She texted Rachel, telling her that she was on her way to the train station, and that she should call her when she arrives so she can help her with her luggage, if it turns out to be too heavy to carry alone.

Rachel looked out the window and stared at the stars. She thought about Finn, and about the star she named after him. Finn Hudson, it was called. So every time Rachel was feeling lonely or down, she could look up at the sky and remember that Finn Hudson is looking down at her. Not anymore, she thought to herself. She felt that Finn was looking down ON her. Yes, he was going to break her heart, but he didn't want to. "**I** started it, **I** broke up with him, all of it was **my** fault," was all she was thinking about ever since the day she left Finn.

"A pleasant evening, passengers. We are nearing our destination, in about 10 to 15 minutes, we will be arriving at Union Station. All passengers who will be leaving at this check point are requested to prepare their baggage as to not cause any delays to our path." The train conductor was really hard to understand, he had some kind of accent that made it seem as if his throat was sore and his vocal cords were stretched out too much. Rachel, however, having great ears for several sounds, was able to make out what he said in a snap.

Exactly 17 minutes after the announcement, they finally arrived at Union Station. Taking her suitcase from under the table, she stood up, ready to leave, and glanced back a few times, making sure that she didn't leave anything important. The train doors finally opened, and she rushed out the door. She texted Quinn as she was asked to if she arrived. She passed by a stall selling beverages, and got herself water. She sat down a bench near the station's exit and waited for Quinn.

Quinn arrived just in time, right when Rachel texted her that she was here. She rushed to the arrival area of the station and saw Rachel Berry there. She realized that she didn't look like the girl she once knew, the one with the bright smile, the ever glowing appearance, and the overenthusiasm that sometimes felt pretty annoying. She was looking down with her phone in her right hand and the handle of her pink suitcase in her left. If Quinn didn't know how Rachel exactly looked like, she would've thought that the girl was just a depressed civilian.

"Rachel, hey, Rachel! Are you ready to go?" Quinn yelled. There were many people going back and forth in front of her, such a huge crowd that she couldn't get within physical reach of the girl.

Rachel looked up, scanned right, left, up, and down, for the girl that was expecting her, and she finally found her. It was hard not to see her, she always popped in a crowd. Golden hair that used to be long and curly, but was now cut into a cute bob, one that really matched her, she noticed. "Quinn, Quinn! I'm here!" Quinn took Rachel's hand from a distance and pushed everyone aside, running out with Rachel. "Go in the car, I'll put your suitcase in the trunk." She did just that, waiting for Quinn to lock the car trunk, and Quinn finally opened the car, sat down in the driver's seat and started the car up. Rachel smiled at Quinn as she buckled her seatbelt and said, "Thanks, Quinn. So, how are you doing?"

Quinn smiled back and replied, "The question is, how are you doing, Rachel?"


End file.
